Kingwin Stryker 500W Fanless Power Supply Review

Introduction and Features

Kingwin just released their first fanless power supply, the Stryker Fanless 500W, which is rated for 500W and can be easily overclocked to 600W output with only a slight drop in efficiency. That makes the Stryker STR-500 one of the highest output fanless power supplies on the market today. And the Kingwin Stryker 500W Fanless power supply is certified 80 Plus Platinum with up to 92% efficiency. High efficiency is always good but it is critical for a fanless power supply to help minimize waste heat. Combine that with a good combination of fixed and modular cables and a 5-year warranty and we have a very interesting new product to review!

Kingwin has impressed us recently with several of their new power supplies, most notably the LZP-550W that we reviewed earlier this year, which won an Editor's Choice award. In addition to the new Stryker fanless PSU, Kingwin offers a complete lineup of PC power supplies ranging across seven categories along with PC chassis, external enclosures, docking stations, cooling systems, and accessories.

Fanless PC power supplies occupy a niche market and are targeted towards users who want a silent power supply, without even a whisper of fan noise. Fanless power supplies rely on convection cooling and still require airflow in and around the power supply chassis to carry away the waste heat. So while the power supply itself may not have a fan the computer enclosure must still have some means of creating airflow to keep the CPU, GPU and PSU cool. The last thing you want to do is put a fanless PSU in a closed enclosure without any fans or airflow.

Establishing an accurate load is critical to testing and evaluating a PC power supply. PCPerspective’s power supply test bench can place a precise 2,000 watt DC load on the PSU under test. Each power supply is tested under controlled, real-world conditions up to its maximum rated load (at 40ºC), using both 115 VAC and 240 VAC line voltage. Our current suite of tests includes: